Nearly five months after the incident, Kvitova made an impressive return to court as she looked sharp and eager in her 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round of the French Open.

But, arriving at Roland Garros high on confidence after having beaten Agnieszka Radwanska and Dominika Cibulkova on clay this year, she held her nerve to close out the match in a final game that featured five deuce points.

Makarova wins her meeting with Kerber in straight sets.

"I'm really glad to have made the decision to play here", said 27-year-old Kvitova, who was seriously hurt when she fought off a knife-wielding burglar at her home in the eastern Czech town of Prostejov in December.

Mixing winners and unforced errors in nearly equal measure, Kvitova had three break points to go 4-0 up but Boserup saw them off, although she could not overturn all the advantage.

The German, who also lost in round one a year ago, has had a miserable season and is not a fan of clay so the result came as no real surprise.

There was a warm embrace between Kvitova and Mattek-Sands at the net after the American triumphed 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5). "I think I played well after six months off", said Kvitova, adding that she regarded herself as a victor already. Her goal of getting a career Grand Slam will have to wait, and it's now in jeopardy. "This year, I mean, the expectations are much bigger, especially in the big tournaments and the Grand Slams". This match is special to me.

During her on-court interview, Kvitova addressed her coach, her family and others in her guest box, saying: "Thank you for everything you helped me through (in) this hard time".

A French Open semi-finalist in 2012, Kvitova will face Bethanie Mattek-Sands or Evgeniya Rodina in the next round.

"I didn't think that I will play No 1. It's kind of - I don't want to say 'open, ' because everyone's really good, but - very competitive", Rogers said, "and there's not like that dominating force".

But Kvitova will leave Paris with far more positive feelings than negative and could yet be a major force on grass, her favourite surface.

Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic returns the ball to Julia Boserup, of the U.S, in their first round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, Sunday, May 28, 2017 in Paris. The American scored a hard victory over Wang Qiang, and in the next round, the 10th seeded waiting for the Japanese Kurumi Nara, who won a hard-fought win over 15-year-old Amanda Anisimova.

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